All We Need
by fembuck
Summary: It’s a regular, unremarkable day at Vampiric Charms … until it’s not. RachelIvy, IvyRachel, femslash
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **All We Need

**Author:** Janine

**Fandom:** The Hollows

**Pairing:** Rachel/Ivy

**Rating:** PG

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them.

**Summary: **It's a regular, unremarkable day at Vampiric Charms … until it's not.

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**PART ONE**

Rachel shook her head, a smile spreading across her lips, as her fingers fondly brushed the wooden front door of the church. She swiped her thumb over the wood, and then her fingers trailed towards the handle. She wrapped her fingers around the cool brass and she tugged, pulling the door open. She grinned and then turned her head to look at Ivy, gallantly waving toward the open doorway with her free hand.

"Mi'lady," Rachel said smiling as Ivy shifted her grip on the grocery bags in her hands.

"More like Mi'pack-mule," Ivy grumbled glancing at Rachel as she made her way through the doorway.

"Hey, I offered to carry something." Rachel followed Ivy into the church still smiling. "You're the one that wanted to play 'Strapping Young Vampiress'," the redhead continued, trying to wince when she released that it sounded like a video one would find on VampTube.

Ivy snorted indelicately and then drawled, "I don't need to play," before she leaned against the back of the door so that she could use her sock clad foot to slip off her boot. Once free of the expensive leather, she looked over at Rachel again. Rachel gazed back curiously and Ivy smirked before shooting the redhead a look so soulfully intense, Rachel had to characterize it as strapping.

Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed.

"You practice that look in the mirror, don't you?" Rachel asked, bending down to remove her own boots as she spoke. ""In the early hours of the morning when everyone's asleep," she continued as Ivy began to pad towards the kitchen. "Ivy's in the bathroom, perfecting Blue-Steel."

With anyone else Rachel would have been annoyed that they were walking away from her mid-conversation, but she knew that Ivy was still listening to her. Even if she didn't always like what she was hearing, Ivy always listened to her. Besides, it wasn't as if the living-vampire would have trouble hearing her in another room, or even across the street.

"Yeah well," Ivy said depositing the last bag in her hand on the counter. "All this," she continued gesturing down the length of her body, "might have come naturally. But a persona must be cultivated."

Rachel rested her elbows against the top of the island and proceeded to lean on it as Ivy began to put away the groceries. She would have offered to help with that too, but she knew that Ivy would just wave her off. Her roommate was in one of her chivalrous moods and would not consent to Rachel doing any manual labor.

"Well, God got you off to a pretty good start," Rachel said allowing her eyes to roam over Ivy's body for a moment before forcing her eyes away. She knew if she looked too long that Ivy would feel it, and she really didn't want to get into anything with the living-vamp. They were having a nice day together and she wanted to keep it that way. "If being badass with a heart of gold came naturally too, I think the injustice of the world would overcome me and I'd have to stake you."

"Aw, that's cute," Ivy laughed opening the fridge door. "You think you could," she continued, looking over her shoulder at Rachel and smirking before she turned back to the groceries.

"Maybe, maybe not," Rachel said, watching Ivy move. "But, it's not an argument I'm at all interested in finding out the answer too," she continued softly, her heart clenching at just the thought of something happening to Ivy, let alone it being her who did it.

Ivy stilled for a moment, but her back was to Rachel so the witch couldn't assess her feelings.

"I'll sleep better tonight knowing that," Ivy said jokingly a second later, her posture relaxing before she started in with the groceries again. Her tone was a bit more strained than it had been earlier however, and Rachel knew that her words had affected Ivy in some way. She just hoped it was positively.

A mostly comfortable silence fell between them after that. Ivy didn't seem terribly upset, so Rachel figured that whatever she said to make Ivy tense before couldn't have been too bad. Still, she was hesitant to just open her mouth and let anything fall out in case she wasn't as lucky the second time and managed to say something that really would upset Ivy. They'd had a near perfect afternoon together, and she wanted to make have a near perfect evening as well.

"Hey," Rachel said a minute later, her eyes on a small bag in Ivy's hand. "Where'd you get that?"

"At the store," Ivy replied, and Rachel could hear the smile in her voice.

"I know," Rachel responded frowning a little. "I meant, when'd you get that? And why?"

"Well, that's not what you asked," Ivy said setting the small bag aside on the counter as she turned her attention to their boxed and canned goods now that the perishable items had been put away.

"Ivy," Rachel complained, knowing that if Ivy decided to play word games that it would be a while before she got an answer to her question.

"I got it while you were in the washroom," Ivy said shaking her head. "I told you not to drink that much coffee," she continued. She shook her head again, and though her back was to Rachel, the witch could tell that Ivy was smiling.

Rachel sighed, and glared at Ivy's back. Her '_I gotta go, I gotta go_' dance had been endlessly entertaining to the living-vampire earlier that day, and Rachel suspected that her roommate was reliving the hilarity of it all that very moment.

"First of all, you're not my mom," Rachel groused, knowing all the while that she really shouldn't have drunk that much coffee. "And second of all, you still haven't said why."

Ivy was silent as she moved towards the large pantry at the side of the kitchen and disappeared inside.

"I thought you could use it in the garden," Ivy said as she emerged from the pantry, and moved back towards where she had unloaded the groceries on the counter.

"There's no space," Rachel said gently, touched that Ivy had thought to buy the seeds, and that Ivy had been paying enough attention to what she had out there to know what she needed.

"Not yet," Ivy responded moving back over towards the pantry. "I was thinking about clearing some space out," she went on, her words trailing off for the few seconds she was inside the small room before she emerged again. "Under the window there's a bunch of rocks and junk, but I could clear a nice space for you and get a new layer of topsoil down in an afternoon. I know you need to grow more now, so …" Ivy trailed off, shrugging her shoulders gently.

"You don't have to," Rachel said softly, her voice catching in her throat a little as she stared at Ivy's back.

"I know," Ivy said softly, shrugging again in what Rachel realized was a sign of nervousness. "I want to."

"That's really thoughtful, Ivy," Rachel said breathing in and out deeply as she blinked rapidly, trying to fight to growing moisture in her eyes. "Really, I appreciate it. Thanks," she breathed out, feeling incredibly lucky and overwhelmed.

Her life wasn't perfect; she was covered in demon scars, she had copious amounts of vampire saliva running through her blood stream, her brother had stolen her mother and taken her halfway across the country, and she had managed to get herself shunned. So, really, her life was far from perfect. But as Rachel watched Ivy move silently towards the pantry again, she couldn't help but think that in the ways that really mattered she was blessed. She had a roof over her head, she had clothes and food, she had great friends, and she had Ivy. Ivy: who kept her sane and safe, both body and soul. Ivy: who was more of a home to her than any collection of bricks and mortar ever could be. Ivy: who needed her and who she needed no matter how strange it seemed to others or themselves.

"Hey."

Rachel breathed in sharply as Ivy's voice penetrated the fog of her thoughts. Ivy's hand was resting against her arm, and Rachel glanced down at it before blinking rapidly as she tried to focus her gaze, which, she was surprised to find, was cloudy with tears.

"Are you okay?" Ivy asked softly, her beautiful brown eyes shinning with concern as peered at Rachel.

"Yeah," Rachel said, smiling a little weakly as she gazed at Ivy. Ivy's brows were knitted together in worry, creating an absolutely charming little wrinkle between her eyes, and without really thinking about it, Rachel lifted her hand and stroked the pad of her thumb over the flesh in an attempt to smooth it out.

Ivy breathed in audibly, her head jerking back for a second before she controlled the impulse and returned to her previous position.

"I was just thinking," Rachel continued a second later, blushing as she drew her hand back.

She shouldn't have touched Ivy like that. Skin on skin contact mixed their scents, it made things more difficult for Ivy, she knew that and she shouldn't have touched. But by god, it was hard to think that way sometimes. Sometimes it was hard to remember not to touch when that was all she wanted to do. They were friends, for the love of god! They went through hell together, and sometimes she just wanted to freakin' hold Ivy's hand or, god forbid, even give her hug.

"Bad thoughts?" Ivy asked tentatively, her hand moving up and down on Rachel's arm gently.

"No," Rachel said smiling a little self-consciously as she looked over at Ivy, meeting the living-vampires relieved but confused gaze. "Not really."

Rachel breathed in deeply to fortify her resolve, and then she lifted her hand and covered Ivy's with it. She lay her hand on the back of Ivy's for a moment, and then she took Ivy's hand into her own and cradled it between their bodies.

"I was thinking," Rachel began slowly, however her thoughts began to drift away from her as her thumb stroked the smooth back of Ivy's hand. Rachel blinked, surprised by the suddenly ephemeral quality of her thoughts. Before Ivy had gotten her attention, a tight, tense feeling had rolled over her, her emotions doing strange things to her stomach, making it knot and clench. However, the almost overwhelming wave of emotion that had washed over her was beginning to ease, and a warm, calm feeling was snaking through her replacing tension with tenderness.

An idea began to tickle the back of Rachel's mind, and she opened her second-sight up immediately to try and confirm it. Once she had shifted her vision, she was completely unsurprised to find that Ivy's aura, golden and strong, was reaching out for her, covering her hand where theirs were linked and reaching further still up her arm.

"I was thinking," Rachel continued a little breathlessly, "that I can't imagine my life without you," she whispered stroking Ivy's hand again unconsciously. "I don't want to. The thought of thinking about it terrifies me."

Rachel frowned at little at the words coming out of her mouth. She was a little surprised by them. She _had_ been thinking about Ivy, but her fears about being without Ivy hadn't been at the forefront of her brain before she started talking.

"I'm thinking about it now. My hearts racing," Rachel looked down at their joined hands again. "Can you hear it?" she asked looking up.

Ivy's eyes were mostly black when Rachel looked up at her once again, and that tight feeling returned to Rachel's stomach.

"Yes," Ivy breathed out in that gray silk purr that did things to Rachel's body. "I can heart it," she added.

Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment, and when they opened again her pupils had expanded even more and her eyes were hooded.

Rachel breathed in and out deeply, knowing that she was beginning to affect Ivy's instincts. She wasn't afraid of Ivy at the moment, but she couldn't seem to calm her heart down. She breathed in and out, in and out, in and out, again and again, but despite her attempts her heart continued to thump rapidly in beneath her breast as she stared into Ivy's dark eyes.

It didn't make sense. She couldn't explain it. She wasn't scared, and yet …

"Do you need me to leave the room?" Rachel asked when it became clear to her that she wasn't going to be able to calm her heart beat down.

Ivy blinked slowly and licked her lips.

"Do you want to leave the room?" Ivy asked in a whisper soft voice.

Rachel felt a jolt and realized that it was a shot of adrenaline rushing through her. Her heart began to beat more quickly, and for a moment she felt almost light-headed.

"I asked you first," Rachel managed to choke out, her thumb brushing against Ivy's hand again as she spoke.

Ivy sighed deeply, her dark eyes churning with emotion before she turned her head to the side, away from Rachel.

"I don't know what I need," she breathed out. "I don't want you to leave. This," she said, looking down at their hands, though she avoided Rachel's gaze, "is nice. But …" she trailed off, her body tensing as she did.

They both know Rachel's heart beat and scent were beginning to get to her.

"You haven't gone for my jugular," Rachel murmured, squeezing Ivy's hand, holding it tightly as if to fight off the inevitability of having to let it go sometime soon.

"Not today," Ivy breathed out. "Not yet," she added sadly.

"I like …" Rachel began, "I wish," she tried again, but she stopped herself that time as well. She wished that she and Ivy could touch more casually without Ivy's instincts being triggered, but she knew that Ivy wished the same thing, and that to comment on it would only make Ivy feel badly.

Rachel stroked the back of Ivy's hand once more and then, reluctantly released it and took a step to the side. Once clear of Ivy's body she began to move towards the kitchen counter where a few groceries were still resting on the surface waiting to be put away.

In all of her OCD charm, Ivy had unconsciously separated the remaining groceries into piles to be put away section by section, so Rachel reached for the pile with the least amount of stuff and headed towards the pantry to put them with others of their kind which Ivy had already started on. She was aware of Ivy, still standing by the island, her hands griping the edge of it as her head hung down, a dark curtain of hair hiding one doubt pained features. She wanted to go over to Ivy, she wanted to make it better, but she knew that her proximity would only make things worse.

When there was one small pile of groceries left to put away, Rachel felt Ivy's fingers ghost against the small of her back and then Ivy appeared beside and reached for the remaining items, taking over the job she had been forced to abandon.

"You stayed," Ivy murmured her voice thick with emotion.

"Of course," Rachel replied looking over at her, green eyes meeting Ivy's brown one and holding them. "You always put the pancake mix in the wrong spot, and I can never find it."

A wave of relief rolled over Ivy at Rachel's joke, her shoulders visibly relaxing as a small smile touched her lips.

"So," Rachel said as Ivy moved towards the pantry with the last of the food items. "If you're making me a garden, can I request some other things for it? I'd get them myself, but you know I've got a little problem with being the most reviled witch in Cincy at the moment."

"I think I can handle requests," Ivy said smirking as she emerged from the pantry. "On one condition."

"Condition? My, my, somebody thinks she's a fancy girl," Rachel commented, crossing her arms across her chest playfully. "Okay, what's this condition?"

"Lemonade," Ivy responded her gaze deathly serious. "Fresh lemonade, that is to be served to me upon request, without complaint during my hours of grueling labor."

"You got yourself a deal lady," Rachel replied smiling.

To be continued …


	2. Chapter 2

**PART TWO**

**Later That Night**

Rachel sighed softly as she flipped a page of the book she was reading. Her vision was beginning to blur and she was barely managing to retain the information she had read in her brain for more than a few seconds. She'd been at it for hours already and she needed a break. Her brain was rebelling against her. She needed a distraction.

"I…" Rachel started to call out, her body jerking back further into the couch cushions a second later when she looked up and saw a figure standing in the doorway. "Jesus, Ivy!" she exclaimed as she focused on Ivy hovering in the doorway of the living room. Ivy moved fast, but she didn't move that fast and Rachel momentarily wondered how long the living vampire had been standing there watching her. "I hate it when you do that," Rachel muttered, removing her hand from her chest as her heartbeat slowly settled into a regular pattern once more.

"Sorry," Ivy murmured before her head tipped to the side to rest against the door frame.

Rachel didn't like that Ivy was still creeping by the doorway, but the living-vampire looked pretty settled where she was and Rachel didn't feel like getting into an argument just because her senses weren't developed enough to always register Ivy's movements.

"Are you heading out?"

There was a touch of disappointment in Rachel's voice. She was hoping that she and Ivy could've hung out again. Granted, she had monopolized the majority of the living-vampires afternoon, but she would have liked to monopolize her evening too. When Ivy was in a good mood, it really wasn't possible to spend too much time around her, and Ivy had been in a good mood all day. In fact, she'd been in a pretty good mood for the last month or so. Rachel wasn't sure why exactly, as far as she could tell nothing much had changed, but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and she was content to just bask in her best friends contentment.

"No," Ivy said softly, her eyes wandering around the room.

"You're not seeing Glenn?" Rachel closed the book on her lap and turned her full attention to Ivy.

Ivy shook her head, her eyes still scanning the room restlessly.

Rachel's eyebrow knitted together, and she focused on Ivy, studying her keenly for a moment. The set of Ivy's shoulders was tenser than usual. It wasn't that wire-tight intensity that she usually had when she was fighting off some vampiric instinct, but Ivy certainly wasn't at ease. Something was bothering her, something was making her uncomfortable and distracted, but Rachel wasn't sure what it was.

"You haven't seen him much lately," Rachel said carefully, watching Ivy closely.

She hadn't really thought about it before, but it was true. When Ivy had first started dating Glenn, Rachel had almost felt like she was living alone after the sun went down. Ivy was often around when she woke up in the afternoon, but she'd been keeping very late hours, and Rachel had felt her absence much more strongly than she would have thought.

Ivy had been around a lot more in the evenings over the past month, however, which Rachel was selfishly glad for. Things were good between them presently, things were relaxed in a way that they never really had been before and Rachel loved it, and she knew that Ivy did too. It was nice for them not to be constantly on edge around each. It was nice to be able to enjoy each others company.

"No, I haven't," Ivy agreed softly. Her tone was mostly undecipherable, but the quality of it, the slight huskiness of it sent a little shiver through Rachel. It was a tone that Rachel had come to think of as "Ivy after Dark". She knew that Ivy didn't do it on purpose, but once the sun went down the living-vampire almost immediately became sultry. Usually it wasn't anything jarringly obvious, but that little extra sway in her hips when she walked, combined with the slight huskiness that came into her voice and the minor increase in pheromones she released, all came together to produce a rather intoxicating effect.

"Are you two fighting?" Rachel's eyes narrowed a little at the thought.

If Glenn had done anything to upset Ivy she was going to have a serious chat with him. That was, a serious chat that would likely involve her throwing tomatoes at him and possibly even tapping a line or having Jenks pix him. She'd had her doubts about the two of them, but Ivy's spirits had been better after they got together so Rachel decided to keep her mouth shut, and just hope for the best. If they were fighting however, Rachel would come down on Ivy's side every time and Glenn was going to have to prepare himself to have _two_ women pissed at him.

"Fighting?" Ivy asked, her eyebrow rising up on her forehead as she finally turned to look at Rachel. "No," she said, smiling a little in a way that made Rachel's stomach do little flip flops. "We broke up, last week," she revealed. "And we didn't fight about it," she added, holding Rachel's gaze for a moment longer before she looked away again.

Rachel blinked in surprise a few times, and her lips parted as she stared at Ivy.

"Oh," she murmured, wincing a little after the word came out of her mouth.

She hadn't known that they'd broken up. She probably should have known that. Then again, she hadn't really known when they started dating either, but she'd been trying to keep better track of things like that. Ivy hadn't mentioned it though, she was sure of that. If Ivy had mentioned it she would have remembered.

"What happened?"

Ivy shrugged lazily, her eyes still looking everywhere but at Rachel. "You're not really surprised, are you?"

Rachel dropped her gaze down to the book resting on her lap, and started to trace the cover of it with her thumb.

She really wasn't surprised, but she thought that it might make her seem like an asshole to agree with Ivy's statement out loud. Glenn was a nice guy, but he wasn't strong enough for Ivy, emotionally or physically. He was very cool for a human, but Interlander life was still mostly a mystery to him – a scary and unsettling mystery – which would have made a long relationship with an Interlander difficult for him. There was also the fact that there was enough of an Alpha male in Glenn, that Rachel suspected that having a girlfriend who could bench press him was probably beginning to take a toll on his male ego. Add into that the differences in their sleeping patterns, Ivy disappearing for a few hours every week to keep her bloodlust in check, and the unstable hours attached to both of their jobs, and it didn't surprise Rachel that things had become … complicated.

"Do you want to talk about …"

"No," Ivy interjected cutting her off before she could finish her awkward offer for a heart to heart. "It's fine. We're fine. Glenn and I," she continued, glancing over at Rachel briefly before looking away again. "There's really nothing to talk about."

"Okay," Rachel said, relieved not to have to talk about Ivy's romantic woes. Ivy didn't seem particularly broken up by their parting, and in fact had seemed to be in a pretty good mood all week, so there was probably nothing to really worry about. Besides, she really didn't want to hear about any sex stuff between them, and she was sure that part of the break up probably had to do with sex stuff. "So," Rachel continued, drawing the word out as she looked back over at Ivy. "Are you coming in, or are you going to stand in the doorway all night?"

Ivy's body tensed minutely, and then she went completely still. Rachel was pretty sure she had even stopped breathing. And then, when Ivy had been still and silent for so long that Rachel was about to speak again, Ivy jerked into motion.

Rachel watched her, captivated by Ivy's uncharacteristically rough motions. She expected the living-vampire to head towards her chair. That was usually how they existed together in the living room, on opposite sides, talking loudly to each other. But Ivy didn't head towards her chair. Instead, she moved towards the couch, and then she sat down so that her thighs were resting just centimeters away from Rachel's bare, painted toes.

Ivy sat down, but she didn't relax. Once seated her back remained ramrod straight, and she folded her hands neatly in her lap as if she was being evaluated on her carriage for an etiquette class. She looked so awkward that Rachel wanted to smile, but she didn't. Ivy was so clearly uncomfortable and worried about something that concern won out of Rachel's amusement.

"Ivy," Rachel began gently, becoming truly worried by her roommate's behavior.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Ivy suddenly asked startling Rachel.

"Is that a good idea?" Rachel asked a little wearily as she stared at Ivy's stiff posture.

There was a reason they had stopped sharing a couch together while hanging out in the living room, and while she sometimes desperately wished that things didn't have to be that way, she didn't want to push their luck. She'd rather watch a movie with Ivy on her chair and the two of them cracking jokes from across the room, then trigger Ivy's instincts and have Ivy run away into the night loathing herself.

"You look … tense," Rachel continued as diplomatically as she could.

Ivy remained still as stone for a few seconds after Rachel spoke, and then she looked over at the redhead. Ivy's rich cinnamon eyes then drifted down to Rachel's hand, which was still resting on the cover of her book. Ivy's gaze lingered on Rachel's hand for a moment and then she looked away again, focusing her attention on the blank television set once more as her posture became even more rigid.

"I could sit over there," Rachel offered pointing to Ivy's chair. She had seen Ivy look at her and the fact that her proximity made Ivy tense even more did not go unnoticed. It didn't make much sense to her that Ivy would come over and sit on the couch only to then tell her to move, but she wasn't sure what else to do, or what else to offer to ease Ivy's distress.

"I don't want you to move," Ivy breathed out.

"Then what do you want?" Rachel asked in an equally soft tone, her voice curious but not demanding.

Ivy turned her face in Rachel direction, and when their eyes met there was a look of such longing and sadness in Ivy's eyes that Rachel almost gasped. She didn't gasp, but something in her breathing or her scent must have changed because Ivy looked at her hands again and then grimaced and turned away from her.

Rachel wasn't quite sure what triggered her understanding, but she suddenly understood – or at least she thought she understood – what it was that Ivy wanted. She also understood that Ivy wouldn't, or perhaps couldn't, ask for what it was that she needed, which left it up to Rachel to give it to her.

Slowly, Rachel shifted on the couch, drawing her legs up into her and then throwing them over the edge of the couch so that she was sitting down on it like Ivy instead of lying down on it. As she moved, she could see Ivy turn to watch her out of the corner of her eye, but Ivy remained silent.

Rachel shifted again, moving minutely closer to Ivy until she was finally close enough to the living-vampire to take Ivy's hand in hers. The redhead paused then, waiting to see if her touch would be rejected, but Ivy remained silent and left her hand peaceably in Rachel's own, so the witch scooted even closer to the vampire's body until she was resting against Ivy's side. Still, Ivy did not protest and so Rachel shifted one last time so that she could rest her head on Ivy's shoulder.

By this point, Rachel's heart was pounding madly in her chest, but she ignored it as she settled down against Ivy. Ivy needed this, they both did, and she wasn't going to let an erratic heart beat stop her from giving both of them this contact.

"You're scared," Ivy said a few seconds later, her voice light as air as her fingers squeezed at Rachel's unconsciously.

"I'm not," Rachel responded firmly, no hint of doubt her in voice. She knew that her heart was still beating rapidly and that Ivy had picked up on it, but she really wasn't scared.

"I can hear your heart," Ivy said in response. "It's beating quickly."

"That doesn't mean I'm afraid," Rachel said slowly, cautiously. She wasn't afraid. She wasn't afraid at all. She was content. She was comfortable. Fear didn't come into it at all.

"What does it mean?" Ivy asked, her voice low, and soft even though she remained tense against Rachel's side.

"That I like being close to you," Rachel responded, her eyes drifting down to their joined hands. It was true. She found a powerful, yet very simple joy in simply being near Ivy. She took comfort in the sight and feel of Ivy's form. "It's pleasure that's making it beat like that. I'm happy."

Ivy breathed in deeply, and because they were so close to each other, Rachel could feel the rise and fall of her chest. She knew that Ivy was scenting the air, trying to taste her emotions, but she wasn't worried. She wasn't quite sure exactly what she was feeling, but she knew that it wasn't fear. She knew she wasn't afraid and so she didn't have to worry about what Ivy would pick up.

"You aren't afraid," Ivy breathed out with a touch of wonder as she realized that Rachel was telling the truth.

"No," Rachel confirmed simply. "Why should I be?

"You're … close to me," Ivy replied breathed out, resolutely staring forward at the blank television screen. "You're usually scared when we're this close."

"I'm not now though."

Rachel couldn't deny what Ivy said. It was true. A few months ago it would have been inconceivable to her that they would sitting the way they presently were. In the past as much as she had longed for contact with Ivy, the prospect of it had terrified her as well. But over the last month, after discovering the identity of Kisten's killer had allowed for some peace to return their lives, things had been changing between them. The touches were small at first, and brief, but they were nourishing, and eased the tension that usually existed between them. Rachel had become used to Ivy standing closer to her. She had become used to Ivy touching her back gently as she walked by her, and she had become used to reaching out and touching Ivy's hand if she wanted to get her attention.

The contact between them at the moment was more than they had ever made before, and it was more than Rachel had hoped for, but she had reached a point where she could hope and that was a big change from before.

"No, you're not," Ivy murmured as her brows knitted together.

Rachel's calm confused her, but her own calm confused her even more. Rachel's scent was all over her and the redhead's heart was still beating madly, but Ivy felt relatively fine. Her senses had heightened, and she knew that her pupils had dilated, but she didn't feel like she was losing herself.

"I feel calm," Ivy breathed out a few seconds later.

Her voice was a charming mix of happiness and confusion and Rachel found herself stroking the back of Ivy's hand to let her know that she wasn't the only one.

"Me too," Rachel admitted, stroking Ivy's hand again because she could. "I think it's our auras."

"They're merging?" Ivy asked surprised looking down at their joined hands as if she could see the transfer.

Rachel nodded absently, a small smile touching her lips as Ivy continued to stare at their joined hands as if she could will herself into having second-sight.

"They merged earlier today when you touched my arm." Ivy looked up at her questioningly. "It made me feel calm then too."

"I wasn't calm," Ivy murmured, looking away from Rachel as she remembered the wave of longing and desire that had started to pulse inside of her that afternoon. For a while, at the beginning, she had been fine. But soon Rachel hadn't been able to ignore the hunger that Rachel's scent and the warmth of her body were creating. She had tried so hard to find some calm, but she'd been fighting a losing battle when Rachel had pulled away and given her some space.

"You were," Rachel said softly, looking over at Ivy though the living-vampire still avoided her gaze. "Calmer than usual anyway," she added, knowing that Ivy hadn't exactly been a picture of control earlier on. "Only our hands were touching then though," she continued, giving voice to a theory that had been swirling around in her brain for the past couple minutes. "I think it's easier now because there's more contact between our bodies."

"More contact," Ivy breathed out thoughtfully, looking down and over at Rachel. "Definitely more contact," she murmured as she took in the sight of Rachel plastered against her side.

"Definitely," Rachel agreed with a little smile.

Ivy breathed in and out deeply, then bit down on her bottom lip and began to worry it for a few seconds.

"It's amazing," Ivy breathed out. "I can smell you. Our scents are mixing, and I can still hear your heart beating, so fast, but I feel content. There's no hunger," Ivy said looking over at Rachel. "There's no hunger," she repeated awestruck. "I should be," her eyes drifted to Rachel's neck, "but I'm not," Ivy said, her voice cracking a little bit as she looked down at their joined hands. "I feel fine."

Ivy was shaking faintly by the time she finished speaking, and she seemed to be close to tears. Rachel understood why, she knew how much it killed Ivy that they hadn't been able to sit like this in the past. Ivy hated to be powerless, she hated to be out of control, and the fact that she couldn't control her own body filled her with self-loathing. They had been denied the simplest of contact for so long, that now that it was possible it didn't surprise Rachel at all that Ivy was somewhat overwhelmed. Quite frankly, Rachel was feeling more than a little misty-eyed herself.

Rachel squeezed Ivy's hand, holding it tightly in her own. It was a small thing, but it was a small thing that they had wanted to share together for over a year, and so the clenching of her fingers around Ivy's became a very big deal.

"We should hold hands more often," Rachel said long moments later. "I mean it," she added a second later when Ivy glanced over at her doubtfully.

"Do you?" Ivy whispered.

"Yes," Rachel said softly, the word nothing more than a rush of air. "This helps me too," she continued brushing the back of Ivy's hand with her thumb. "I need you too," she whispered angling her head down as she spoke. A tight feeling appeared in her stomach, and she knew that her heart had started to beat even more quickly.

Ivy breathed in audibly, but she didn't say anything in response to Rachel's statement, and so they sat together in silence for quite a few minutes. With anyone else, Rachel probably would have felt awkward, but it was comfortable with Ivy. The silence didn't come from having nothing to say to each other. It came from being able to say everything they needed to simply by holding each other. They were enthralled by the closeness of each other, captivated and completely entertained by the mere presence of each other.

"I should have put the DVD on first," Rachel said sometime later, her eyes focused on the blank screen of their television.

Beside her she felt Ivy's body begin to shake, and then the sound of laughter filled the room. It was a free, light, airy sound that Rachel hadn't heard often from Ivy, and it brought a large smile to her own face.

"I'll put it on," Ivy said pleasantly, shifting to get up. "It'll just take a second," she continued when Rachel wouldn't release her.

"No. Stay," Rachel said, holding onto Ivy's arm. "It's fine. I like this show," she went on looking at the blank screen. "It's easy to follow and there are no bright lights to over-stimulate my brain."

Ivy smirked at that but tried to stand again. "We can't stare a blank screen forever."

"Not forever. We could probably do it for the rest of the night though, possibly even well into the morning if we really put our minds to it," Rachel replied still holding steadfastly onto Ivy.

"It'll just take a second," Ivy said again, but she was smiling, and Rachel could tell that she was happy to have Rachel holding onto her so persistently. It pleased Ivy that Rachel was really as loath to break contact with her as she was to lose contact with Rachel.

"Okay fine," Rachel relented. She didn't really want to stare at a blank screen all night. "But I'm coming with you."

Ivy shot her an amused but questioning look.

"If it is our auras that are causing this calm, I don't want the connection to break," Rachel explained standing up as Ivy did so that their hands remained joined and their bodies remained pressed up against each other. "I call you for the rest of the night," Rachel said smacking the palm of her free hand against Ivy's other arm, tagging her like they were seven year olds playing in the park. "I'm not going to let a DVD come between us."

"You're ridiculous. You know that right?" Ivy asked with a big smile as they made their way towards the entertainment center.

"Yes," Rachel replied not at all perturbed by Ivy's statement. "Although I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that you're the one who laced our fingers together."

Ivy glanced down, a look of surprise crossing her features as she realized that their fingers were in fact laced together. A touch of pink touched Ivy's cheeks and she turned from Rachel to focus on the shelves that held their DVD collection.

"Indeed I did," Ivy murmured, still looked at the plastic spines of the DVDs instead of at Rachel. "I guess it's a good thing I'm a little ridiculous though," she continued, finally glancing over at Rachel once more. The pink was still on her cheeks, and Rachel thought that it might have been one of the most adorable things she had ever seen. Ivy was stunning when she was dark, dangerous and vampy, but she was heartbreakingly beautiful when she allowed the gentleness instead of her to show through. Ivy the vampire was impressive, but Ivy the woman was magnificent. "If one of us were too sensible we wouldn't be able to stand each other."

"To stupidity," Rachel said, holding up an imaginary glass in toast.

"Lovely," Ivy muttered, shaking her head at Rachel though she was smirking. "Can you toast crouching now?" the living-vampire continued, a happy smile still spread across her lips. "I can't reach the DVDs from up here."

Rachel tried to glare at Ivy for that, but the vampire's good mood was too infectious and soon Rachel found herself smiling.

"You're lucky you're cute, Tamwood," Rachel responded as they both crouched down so that Ivy could begin rifling through their DVDs.

"Yeah," Ivy sighed dreamily, "It's pretty awesome," she continued making Rachel laugh. "So, what do you think … comedy, drama or action?"

"Um," Rachel hummed, a thoughtful look coming over her face. "Comedy, I think. I want something to laugh at … besides your face."

Ivy's face lit up with amusement, and she muttered, "What a zinger," before she started to paw through the DVDs to find something funny. "Rachel?" Ivy questioned a few moment later.

She sounded serious, concerned and Rachel tensed slightly.

"What?" Rachel asked, her good mood dampening a little in the face of Ivy's new solemnity.

"Rachel, I think we may be very serious people," Ivy pronounced gravely. "We only have two comedy movies."

Rachel's body sagged in relief and she angled to face Ivy so that she could glare at her. Ivy seemed unperturbed by this ocular attack however, so Rachel decided that words were going to be needed.

"Ivy," Rachel said very somberly, following the living-vampires lead.

"Yes," Ivy responded still very somber.

"I'm going to stop holding your hand if you continue with these shenanigans."

Ivy smiled again, brightly, and reached for one of the two comedy DVDs they owned. Once it was securely in her hand, she began to unfurl her long form, helping Rachel up as well until they were both standing.

If Rachel wanted her to stop with the shenanigans, she would stop with the shenanigans.

She wanted Rachel to keep holding her hand.

To be continued …


	3. Chapter 3

---

**PART THREE**

**An Hour Later**

Rachel closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. A wave of contentment rolled over her as Ivy's scent flowed through her, and she shifted against the warm body beneath her, tightening the hold she had on Ivy's waist. The DVD Ivy had put on was still playing, but Rachel wasn't paying attention to it and she doubted that Ivy was either. They had both seen it before and there were far more interesting things that they could be concentrating on.

With her eyes still closed, Rachel focused on the sound of Ivy's heart beating. Her head was resting on Ivy's chest, just over her heart and on and off during the movie, Rachel would focus on the steady sound of Ivy's heart pumping and smile. Ivy could hear her heart beating pretty much whenever she wanted to, but Rachel had never had the pleasure. She and Ivy had never been able to be close enough to each other for long enough for her to hear Ivy's. It was a comforting sound, a soothing sound, and Rachel hoped that she would be able to hear it again in the future. It was nice being able to be near Ivy like they were at the moment, and now that she knew the peace that was to be had in Ivy's arms, she knew she would need to experience it again, hopefully often.

Rachel shifted her hand, moving it so that it was resting lightly on top of Ivy's stomach, and smiled a little as her hand began to move up and down gently with Ivy's breath. It felt _so_ good to be pressed up against Ivy, to be on her, touching her, feeling her breathe, hearing her heartbeat. It felt, right. It felt natural somehow, like this was how things _should_ be. Even though they had never touched like this before, it felt like coming home.

Delirious thoughts ran through Rachel's head. She thought that she could spend entire days lying like they were then. She didn't know why it was suddenly so easy for their auras to merge, she had never heard of such a phenomenon before, which meant that it must be extremely rare, but she had never been happier to be different. Finally, being a weirdo was paying off for her.

Rachel slipped her hand from Ivy's stomach, moving it back to the side of Ivy's body. She then slowly, almost hypnotically began to caress Ivy's side gently.

Rachel had never really been a girly-girl, and she hadn't had many 'girlfriends' growing up, so she'd never lounged around this way with another woman. Because of this, it had been a little strange for her being pressed up against Ivy at the beginning. It was new feeling soft curves against her instead of hard planes. But, she got used to the contact rather quickly.

Her hand moved higher on Ivy's torso.

Rachel blinked stopping her caress just in time. Her hand hovered just below the underside of Ivy's breast, so close that Rachel almost felt as if she could feel the heat from the generous mound of flesh warming her hand.

The witch stared at her hand for a few seconds and then shifted her gaze over to Ivy's breast. She stared at it for a long time, enthralled by the gentle slope. Her lips parted and Rachel's tongue peaked out from between them to wet them. Her gaze drifted back to her hand which was so close to the bountiful warmth and Rachel's fingers twitched against Ivy, causing the backs of her fingers to brush against the underside of Ivy's breast.

Ivy tensed immediately, and drew back away from Rachel as much as she could without sending the redhead flying.

"Rachel," the living-vampire gasped.

Rachel immediately snatched her hand back.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her face burning as realization hit her.

She had wanted to feel Ivy up! She had tried to feel Ivy up! She had kind of felt Ivy up!

Rachel's heart began to pound and Ivy twitched beneath her. Ivy's chest began to vibrate and a half purr, half growl emerged from her throat.

Rachel pressed herself against the back of the couch, trying to put as much distance between herself and Ivy as she could while still on top of the other woman.

"I'm sorry," she breathed out again, looking down into Ivy's black eyes. "I …" Rachel licked her lips again, and swayed slightly towards Ivy.

Her eyes were so dark, but they were warm and inviting. The complete blackness of Ivy's eyes used to scare her. They used to scare her a lot, but Rachel wasn't the least bit scared presently. Presently, she thought that Ivy's coal black eyes were the most captivating things she had ever seen.

"Don't know," Rachel continued, her words coming out very slowly, and slightly dazed, "What came over me."

She licked her lips again, and her eyes drifted down to look at Ivy's mouth. She breathed in deeply, and bit down lightly on her bottom lip.

Something was coming over her again.

"Ivy?" she questioned a second later, her eyes lingering on Ivy's lips for a moment longer before she looked back at her eyes.

"Yes?" Ivy's voice was strained, and her body was unnaturally still beneath Rachel's.

"Ivy, I …" Rachel swallowed compulsively and licked her lips again. "I … can I …" the redhead continued, her eyes dropping to Ivy's lips again as she swallowed once more.

"Yes," Ivy said quickly, the raw, raspy sound of her voice sending a shiver of pleasure through Rachel.

Rachel breathed in deeply, blinked once, and then she closed the small distance between them and pressed her lips against Ivy's.

She kissed her slowly at first, tentatively as if she was uncertain how welcome her caress was, but when Ivy shifted beneath her and the living-vampire's arms wrapped around her tightly, holding her in place, Rachel flicked her tongue against Ivy's lips, begging entrance. It was granted and Rachel wasted no time deepening the kiss.

She was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Ivy released a small sound and Rachel met it with one of her own as her hands began to rub up and down along Ivy's torso.

It was with great reluctance that Rachel pulled away from Ivy's lips some time later. Breathing was a necessity, but it was a very inconvenient and irritating one to her at that moment.

She pulled back from Ivy's lips and looked down at her face. Ivy's eyes were closed. Her expression was dazed but blissful, and Rachel thought that it was perhaps the sexiest thing she had ever seen.

The redhead's heart spiked and something hot and wet clenched between her legs.

Ivy's eyes immediately shot open, her midnight gaze instantly capturing Rachel's.

"Rachel," she groaned.

Her nostrils flared and her lips curled back off of her teeth to reveal two small fangs.

"I can't help it," Rachel breathed out, knowing that Ivy could smell her increasing desire and that it was probably driving her insane. She wasn't trying to provoke Ivy. She just couldn't control her body's reaction to the other woman. She could feel Ivy all around her, and smell her, and hear the soft falls of her breath and she wanted to …

Rachel's hips shifted against Ivy, and Ivy reached up and grabbed her arms to hold her still. Ivy's movement was quick, vampire quick and Rachel looked down at her with a touch of alarm. Ivy's breath was coming rapidly, and her eyes were closed.

She was on the edge, and Rachel wasn't sure whether she wanted Ivy to catch herself, or whether she wanted her to fall.

"I have to go," Ivy said opening her eyes a few seconds later. They were still black as licorice and her breath wasn't coming any slower.

"You don't," Rachel said, immediately grabbing hold of Ivy as if she could physically force the living-vampire to stay right where she was. "I want to touch," Rachel breathed out, her own more modest chest heaving as she stared down at Ivy.

Ivy's lips parted in response to her words, and a soft, almost mewling sound escaped from her throat. The sound seemed to travel straight from Ivy's lips to Rachel's center, and Rachel moaned, "Ivy," in response before shifting against her and murmuring, "I really, really want to touch you."

Ivy's face was a mask of desire, but instead of darting forward and capturing Rachel's lips with her own like she wanted to, she angled her face back and away from Rachel. "I want to touch you too," Ivy whispered. "I also want to wake up beside you," she breathed out, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment. "I…" Ivy paused there, her features contorting for a moment almost as if she were in pain, and Rachel knew that whatever she was about to say was going to be difficult for her. "I want to go with you to visit Alice. I want to take you out to dinner. I want to hold your hand in public. I … I don't know, I … want us to have a joint checking account. I want … I _need_ to be your girl," Ivy breathed out, the words rushing from her as she blinked out into the living room, unable to look at Rachel while speaking those words. "I want to touch you so badly, Rachel. I want to touch you so much it hurts," Ivy continued breathing in so sharply that it almost sounded like a hiss. "But if you don't want those other things with me, then don't do this to me," she went on, her voice breaking in the middle of her sentence. "I want a relationship, Rachel. I need a relationship. I can't be a walking vibrator."

Rachel pulled back sharply, her lips pressing together in a tight line as she looked down at Ivy with fire in her eyes. Green eyes flashed, and her lips parted to tell Ivy exactly where she could shove it, but before she could utter a sound, Ivy's expression cut through Rachel's wall of indignance and the redhead pressed her lips together again without saying a word.

She didn't like Ivy's last comment, she didn't like it at all, but anger was not the answer. Beneath her, Ivy looked like she was barely hanging on. She looked like she was seconds away from crumpling into pieces, and so Rachel chewed on her bottom lip to keep herself from speaking.

Ivy's words had been uncharacteristically blunt, but she had to admit that before Ivy spoke she _hadn't_ thought about the implications of taking their relationship to the next level. She hadn't considered whether she wanted to have a romantic relationship with Ivy, she hadn't really considered anything much beyond "horny, must touch Ivy." Granted, it was a pressing thought. She was very horny, and she really, really wanted to touch Ivy, but it wouldn't have been fair to Ivy to sleep with her if she didn't want more.

"I'm not trying to use you to scratch an itch," Rachel said, her words coming slowly as she thought very carefully about them before letting them fall from her lips. "I've thought about waking up beside you," she continued softly, a little smile touching her lips at the memory of the daydream she had had about slipping into bed with Ivy and holding her gently as Ivy smiled at her sleepily. "I meant what I said earlier. I can't imagine my life without you. I want to keep you," Rachel continued, reaching out to rest her hand on Ivy's stomach. She left it there for a second, testing Ivy out, and then she slowly began to move her hand, caressing Ivy in what she hoped was a soothing motion. "I just thought that maybe we could start with the touching, and work our way up to cross country visits to see my mom and … the bank."

Ivy's lips curved up into an amused smile, and her body relaxed under Rachel's.

"I love you, Ivy," Rachel said, knowing that even though Ivy had been amused by the last part of her comment, that she would need more of a confirmation before she really relaxed.

"I'm … difficult," Ivy murmured blinking rapidly. Her heart was still thundering in her chest, but some brown was returning to her pupils, and she seemed calmer than before, though she also seemed extremely uncomfortable.

"So am I," Rachel murmured, touching Ivy's cheek gently. "You're also pretty dreamy," she whispered.

Ivy blushed faintly at that, and Rachel smiled brightly at her before slowly leaning down to press her lips against Ivy's. She wanted to give Ivy a chance to pull away if that's what she wanted, but Ivy stayed put, and Rachel had never been happier to have her lips touching another person's.

"I don't want to be bitten," Rachel said hesitantly once they had parted. She knew that it would be a major issue, maybe even a deal breaker, but she had to say it.

"I know," Ivy said blinking slowly. She kept her voice low and steady, but Rachel could detect a hint of hurt under her modulated tone. "I won't bite you. I swear to you that I won't bite you." Ivy's voice vibrated with passion, with the sincerity of her words and Rachel's fingers clenched at the material of her tank top, bunching it in her fingers as she held Ivy close to her. "I'm just not …" Ivy began before wincing slightly and angling her head away.

"Just not what?" Rachel asked gently, prodding but not demanding. She knew that whatever Ivy was going to say was probably embarrassing for her, but they had to talk. If this was going to work they had to talk. Keeping things from each other never led to anything but heartache with them, and this time Rachel wanted a happy ending.

Ivy tilted her head back so that she was staring at the ceiling and sighed deeply.

"It's easier for me to have sex without blood, than it is to share blood without sex, but easier doesn't really mean easy." Ivy kept her eyes trained on the ceiling as she spoke, absolutely refusing to meet Rachel's eyes as she divulged this. "It's hard sometimes, when you're that close to someone, scents mixing, blood rushing madly beneath their veins, bodies rubbing, tingling all over to not just," Ivy's lips parted as a low moan escaped from her, her fangs flashing wetly in the light of the room before she clamped her lips shut again.

Rachel felt a throb of desire at the sight of Ivy's fangs as she always did. The irony of it didn't escape her. She knew it was crazy to ache for the only thing she had to deny them both. But ironic or not, she couldn't handle sharing blood presently.

"You swore you wouldn't bite me." She sounded confused and pulled back from Ivy a little though she made no move to get off of her.

"And I won't," Ivy said firmly, keeping still though she desperately wanted to reach out for Rachel and pull her close again. "I might just have to … leave. To avoid doing it," she sighed, her eyes trailing up to the ceiling again as red touched her cheeks once more.

"You mean while we're …?" Rachel asked letting the question trail off.

Ivy closed her eyes looking completely miserable and nodded.

Rachel breathed in and out and then scooted closer to Ivy, taking the vampire's hand in her own. "That's okay," Rachel said squeezing her hand.

"It's not okay," Ivy said sadly, still avoiding Rachel's eyes.

"It is," Rachel insisted. "If at first you have to," Rachel waved her hand to indicate the possibility Ivy might have to flee, "then you have to. But it's a matter of acclamation right?" she asked, glad to see Ivy turn to look at her. The raven-haired beauty inclined her head slightly, and Rachel smiled at her. "Right, so you just need to get used it. All we need to do is … practice," she finished, wetting her lips as she looked down at Ivy.

"Practice?" Ivy asked, tentatively hopeful as she looked back at Rachel.

"Practice," Rachel confirmed. "A lot," she continued smiling. "Day and night if we have to, until we've got this thing licked."

"Licked?" Ivy asked smirking. The sight of her smile warmed Rachel's heart, and another part of Rachel's anatomy as well.

"I thought there might be some of that," Rachel replied huskily.

"More than some," Ivy promised, and Rachel chewed on her bottom lip as she smiled.

"Goody," Rachel murmured, still worrying her lip as she looked down at Ivy with an impossibly charmed looked on her face. She was both turned on by Ivy and utterly enamored with her, and she didn't know whether to start ripping off Ivy's clothes or whether to place a kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Rachel?" Ivy questioned, drawing Rachel out of her thoughts.

"Mm."

"Can we start practicing now?" Ivy asked.

The gray silk that did wonderful things to Rachel's body was in Ivy's voice again, and when Rachel looked down she saw that Ivy's eyes were midnight black once again.

"Yes," Rachel whispered leaning down to press her lips against Ivy's. "God, yes," she whispered again, a little more desperately as Ivy's hands moved to her hips.

Ivy's hand slid under the thin material of the t-shirt Rachel was wearing, and Rachel breathed in sharply before pressing herself into Ivy's hand, kissing the raven-haired beauty more deeply as she did.

Rachel smiled as Ivy's hand slipped further under her shirt until the living-vampire was cupping her breast. She had a feeling that she was going to be agreeing with Ivy, vigorously, for the rest of the night.

---

**Much Later**

Rachel pointed her toes forward, towards the front wall of Ivy's room and lifted her hands up in the air as she stretched out her body. She strained for a few moments, and then she released the position and fell bonelessly against the bed once more.

Her head flopped to the side, and a lazy grin spread across her lips as her eyes met Ivy's.

"Ivy," Rachel breathed out as Ivy's hand gently caressed her stomach.

"Hmm," Ivy murmured, staring at her raptly as her hand continued its gentle motions.

"Nothing," Rachel sighed happily, another dopey smile touching her lips.

Ivy grinned at her, and then the redhead felt Ivy's arms wrap around her torso. A moment she found herself in motion, and a few seconds after that she found herself resting against Ivy's side comfortably as the living-vampire's arms wrapped around her, holding her firmly.

Rachel pressed her lips to Ivy's bare shoulder and snaked her own arms more securely around her lover.

"Ivy," Rachel said again.

"Yes?" Ivy asked, and Rachel could hear the smile in her voice.

"I think you broke my brain," Rachel complained lightly as her thigh rubbed against Ivy's. She couldn't keep a thought in her head for the life of her. All she could think was, 'Hmm, Ivy, nice.'

Ivy laughed softly, and stroked Rachel's back tenderly.

"That's okay," the living-vampire murmured. "You don't use it much anyway."

"Oh, ha ha," Rachel muttered, slapping Ivy's side gently. She then proceeded to shift in Ivy's arms a little until the raven-haired beauty loosened her hold enough for Rachel to be able to prop herself up over her lover. "Aren't you an amusing girl?"

"Amusing woman," Ivy corrected gently as Rachel lifted one of her hands to stroke her cheek. "I'm older than you," she continued a touch smugly, which brought a smile to Rachel's lips. "And, yes. I am," she said in response to Rachel's statement, her voice deadpan serious which only made Rachel laugh. "See?" Ivy said arching a victorious eyebrow.

"I see," Rachel whispered, stroking Ivy's cheek again. "I like what I see," she added smirking, before she leaned down to brush her lips against Ivy's, softly at first and then with increasing passion as Ivy eagerly responded to the caress.

Ivy's lips were warm and inviting. Rachel could taste herself on them and it made her skin flush with heat. A moan escaped her throat as she remembered Ivy between her legs. God, it had been good. It wasn't the first time anyone had gone down on her, not by far, but it _had_ been the best time anyone had gone down on her. The things Ivy could do with her tongue were _amazing_.

Rachel's thighs shifted against Ivy's again, rubbing.

Ivy hadn't just touched her. She had made love to her with her mouth. She had worshipped her. She paid tribute to Rachel with her lips and tongue and fingers, and she was thankful. Ivy had dedicated herself completely to Rachel's pleasure and the higher Rachel began to fly, the more pleasure Ivy herself received from it. When Rachel came, straining against Ivy's mouth as her hands bunched in the dark sheets adorning Ivy's bed, she had been aware of Ivy making sounds of pleasure against her. She had felt the vibrations of Ivy's moans, and it had made her come even harder.

She'd had three more orgasms before she'd been forced to reach down and tangle her fingers in Ivy's hair so that she could tug Ivy's face away from her. She hadn't been able to catch her breath, she was shaking all over and she genuinely feared that one more orgasm would kill her.

Rachel threw her leg over Ivy's, and pressed against her as she moved to straddle the living-vampire.

Ivy smiled at her, and shifted a little herself, tensing her thigh so that it pressed against Rachel more firmly. Rachel breathed in sharply, and then began to move her hips. Her eyelids fluttered, and her breathing increased. It felt so good. She could feel Ivy, warm and sticky beneath her, and the air that surrounded them smelt like sex, redwood and Ivy's unique vampire incense. It was without a doubt the most intoxicating thing Rachel had ever scented and she bit her lip and forced her eyes open so that she could see Ivy's face as she moved against her.

Ivy's eyes were black and her lips were parted, leaving small pointed fangs visible to Rachel's hungry eyes. Ivy's gaze was hot enough to burn, and as they stared into each others eyes, Rachel found herself moving more vehemently against the dark goddess beneath her, her desire being spurred on by Ivy's arousal.

Rachel groaned painfully and forced herself to stop moving.

Ivy blinked at her in confusion and released a soft, wanting sound.

"What's wrong?" Ivy asked huskily, moving her hands to Rachel's thighs, rubbing up and down soothingly.

"Nothing," Rachel panted, finding herself shifting against Ivy as she spoke. Her movements were much lighter and slower than they had been seconds before, but with Ivy touching her she couldn't stop moving completely.

"You stopped," Ivy pointed out, her hands moving higher and higher on Rachel's thighs. "You were close," she purred, her nostrils flaring slightly scenting Rachel's emotions.

Even though Rachel had slowed down, Ivy could tell that she was still very close to the edge, and she wanted so desperately to see Rachel fall into orgasm.

"I know," Rachel said blushing.

It was bad enough that a few minutes of riding Ivy's thigh had almost made her come. She hadn't counted on Ivy being able to tell just how close to orgasm she had actually been, and still was. She was a grown ass woman who'd had plenty of sex in her life, plenty thank you very much. She was supposed to be beyond humping like a teenager in their mother's basement on a Saturday night.

"I didn't want to, like that," Rachel breathed out, struggling not to begin moving against Ivy once more.

"No?" Ivy breathed out, her hand drifting to the top of Rachel's thigh. Her fingers trailed between the redhead's legs and brushed teasingly against the damp curls she found there. Rachel's hips jerked at the ghost of a touch, and Ivy moved more decisively, pressing her thumb against Rachel's clit. Rachel hips jerked again, and she breathed in sharply. Ivy's began to circle the hard nub, and Rachel tilted her head back, red-hair cascading behind her as she arched her chest forward and strained into Ivy's touch.

Ivy's eyes traveled to Rachel's neck, and she licked her lips. The column of Rachel's throat was completely exposed, laid out bare and inviting for her, and she felt her fangs drop down even further.

Rachel's skin was flushing again as her pleasure mounted, her sweet, delicious blood flooding towards the surface of her skin, and Ivy could hear it _rushing_ through her veins, pumping furiously as Rachel moved closer and closer to orgasm.

She wanted to bite her, God how she wanted to bite her. She could practically taste Rachel's blood in her mouth already. She knew what it tasted like. She remembered the exquisite beauty of it, how thick, and sweet, and warm it was. It had felt so good as it flowed into her mouth, and trickled down her throat. Crimson beauty, gorgeousness and gorgeosity made liquid, flowing inside of her, lighting her up like fireworks on the 4th of July.

Biting Rachel had been beautiful. It had been wonderful, magnificent, amazing … and she couldn't do it again. She _couldn't_. She wouldn't. Rachel didn't want it.

Rachel moaned piteously as Ivy pulled her hand away from her, but the sound quickly to turned into one of pleasure as she suddenly found herself flat against the mattress, Ivy lying on top of her. Ivy's lips pressed against hers, and Rachel kissed her back hungrily as Ivy's hands moved restlessly over her torso, and higher still until Ivy was touching her breasts and talented, tapered fingers swirled against and pinched hard pink nipples.

Ivy kissed the corner of Rachel's mouth, and her cheek. Her lips traced lower, down to Rachel's jaw, and as her hand slipped between Rachel's legs, she hovered over the redhead's neck, her lips parted as she panted.

"Ivy," Rachel moaned, body twisting on the bed in need. "Ivy, please," Rachel gasped.

Ivy blinked, and licked her lips again, her eyes lingering on Rachel's neck for a moment longer before she lowered her head and kissed Rachel's shoulder.

She had managed to control herself thus far, and she wasn't going to ruin things presently by tempting herself with Rachel's neck. She was stronger than that. She had waited too long and worked to hard to control herself to ruin things now that she finally had Rachel.

She was not going to bite her, and she was not going to run away. She'd fought plenty of losing battles in her life. She'd learned the taste of disappointment young and had gotten increasingly accustomed to it as she grew up. But she wasn't going to lose this battle. She wasn't going to leave Rachel alone in bed, while she slinked off somewhere to shake in a corner and bite at her own wrists. She was better than that, and Rachel deserved more from her.

"Sorry," Ivy murmured, slowly dipping her fingers inside of Rachel.

While she'd been staring at Rachel's neck, her hand had been pressed against Rachel's sex but hadn't been moving. It'd been driving Rachel crazy, and when Ivy finally slipped inside of her, Rachel cried out and clutched at her lover desperately.

Ivy trailed kisses down Rachel's collarbone and then nuzzled her face against the gentle swell of Rachel's breast, her fingers pumping in and out of Rachel as she did. Rachel arched into her, and Ivy turned her head to the side and sucked Rachel's nipple into her mouth, sucking on it desperately, like a starving new born baby.

"Oh god, Ivy," Rachel gasped, her eyes squeezing shut as the dual assault of Ivy's mouth and tongue began to overwhelm her. "Ivy," Rachel panted. "Ivy!"

Ivy's eyes closed as Rachel reached her climax, her lips sucking more earnestly at Rachel as the redhead's pleasure flooded her fingers and Rachel's body shook and trembled beneath her. She kept her fingers moving, drawing out Rachel's orgasm as long as she could, before Rachel collapsed against the mattress breathing heavily as her head spun.

Reluctantly, Ivy released Rachel's nipple and lifted her head, so that she could kiss the underside of Rachel's jaw before she made her way back up to her lips.

They kissed softly for a minute, and then Ivy gathered Rachel up and held her gently as Rachel recovered her breath.

"Ivy?" Rachel breathed out another minute later, her breaths coming more regularly now though her heart was still beating quite quickly.

"Hmm," Ivy murmured in response, her lips quirking up slightly as she did.

Rachel didn't say anything in response. She simply put her hands on Ivy's body and began to move them suggestively, her touch conveying her desire to Ivy just as clearly as her words could have.

Ivy laughed softly, and relaxed her body, allowing Rachel to roll her over so that she was once again on her back and Rachel was on top of her.

"You're insatiable," Ivy drawled, still smiling as Rachel's hands began to trail over her torso.

She couldn't have been happier about the development. She knew that Rachel was in great shape, and that she had a pretty strong sex drive, but she hadn't had a non-vampire lover in the past that had been able to keep up with her as well as Rachel was. Hell, even the vamps couldn't keep up sometimes. She was demanding on her lovers, more so when blood wasn't involved and she had been worried about pushing Rachel too far, though she hadn't voiced that concern to the redhead. Like she was controlling her bloodlust, she knew that she would have been able to stop touching Rachel when the redhead was finally tired out, but her body was still strumming with desire and she was glad that Rachel wasn't quite ready to hit the bench yet.

"Mm," Rachel hummed as she leaned down to kiss Ivy's shoulder before pressing her lips against the swell of the living-vampire's breast.

She wanted to kiss Ivy's neck, but Ivy had been avoiding hers all night and she figured that there must have been a reason for it. Ivy had scars all over her neck as well, most of which weren't visible, just like Rachel's own weren't. But she knew that they were there, and that they were sensitive. She knew kissing Ivy's scars wouldn't affect Ivy the same way Ivy kissing and breathing on hers would. She didn't have any vampire pheromones to play on Ivy with. Still, she didn't want to tease Ivy. Even though she wasn't going to bite Ivy, having her at her neck would get instincts going in Ivy that Rachel couldn't satisfy, and so while the idea of leaving Ivy with an epic hickey on her neck was incredibly appealing, Rachel knew that she couldn't do it.

"I am insatiable," Rachel murmured, flicking her tongue over a hard, dark nipple the second she was finished speaking. "Aren't you lucky?"

Despite her increasing arousal, Ivy laughed softly at that, and lifted her hand to Rachel's face, encouraging the redhead to look up.

"I am," she said, suddenly serious, dark eyes focused intensely on Rachel. "I know it," she continued, and then she leaned up and pressed her lips against Rachel's, kissing her slowly, deeply, until they were both breathless.

"I love you," Rachel whispered, her lips brushing against Ivy's as she spoke. Her voice was shaky, and she was blinking rapidly in an effort to contain tears as she spoke.

"I love you too," Ivy returned, cupping Rachel's face in her hands, kissing her again as a few salty droplets fell from her eyes, joining the few raining down on her from Rachel's.

Slowly the emotions swirling inside of Rachel calmed, and she became hyperaware of the press of Ivy's body against hers once more. She pulled away from Ivy's lips and began to kiss her way down her body. She skipped Ivy's neck as she had before, but she pressed her lips against her clavicle, and placed a series of butterfly kisses between Ivy's breasts before she continued to further down.

Rachel dipped her tongue into Ivy's belly button, and Ivy twitched beneath her and moaned. Rachel smiled against the warm, salty flesh of Ivy's abdomen and trailed her hands up Ivy's thighs, which she grasped and then gently nudged apart before she continued further down.

To be continued …


	4. Chapter 4

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**PART FOUR**

THREE WEEKS LATER

Rachel lowered herself onto the couch, her legs straddling Ivy's as the backs of her fingers moved to stroke Ivy's cheek softly. The living-vampire was refusing to look at her, just as she had been refusing to look at her all day, and Rachel was beginning to get worried.

Rachel couldn't scent emotions in the air like Ivy could, but she didn't need to be able to do that to see how upset Ivy was and had been all day. In the morning she had characterized her lover's behavior as sulkiness and had assumed that Ivy's mood would lift as the day went on. That's how it had gone the other times, but Ivy's dark mood had persisted for the entire day and now well into the night, and Rachel was concerned.

The redhead leaned forward slowly until her lips were pressed against Ivy's, and for a second her heart swelled with relief at being allowed the contact. However, before she could even think about deepening the caress, let alone actually do it, Ivy's hand lifted to cover her wrist, and the living-vampire drew Rachel's fingers from her face and pulled her lips away from Rachel's.

"Don't," Ivy murmured.

She was speaking softly, but there was a roughness to her voice that altered Rachel to the fact that Ivy was trying very hard to control some emotion she was afraid would overwhelm her.

"I can't," Ivy continued, the sound of pain and loathing in her voice making Rachel's heart seize.

Rachel allowed Ivy to remove her hand, and didn't try to kiss her again, but she stayed where she was on Ivy's lap, wanting to maintain some contact with the other woman.

It had been getting harder for Ivy to resist biting her. The first week, things had seemed fine to Rachel, though she realized now that Ivy had been struggling more than she had thought right from the beginning. But the second week, Ivy had had to stop a few times when they were making love. That second week Ivy had just pulled back slightly and closed her eyes, her chest falling still as she stopped breathing and tried to focus herself. She'd managed to stay in the bed though, and the time out usually only last for thirty seconds or so, and usually no more than a minute.

However, despite Ivy's efforts, it wasn't getting any easier for her to hold herself back. Practicing, while extremely pleasurable, was not acclimating Ivy to not biting her, it was making it harder for her not to. Over the last week, they had only made love once where Ivy didn't have to stop, and the last three times, the living-vampire had actually had to leave the room.

"I'm sorry," Ivy breathed out drawing Rachel's attention to her and away from her own thoughts. Ivy's jaw was clenched, and her eyes were closed, and Rachel wanted to comfort her, she wanted to hug her, to kiss her face and make Ivy's pain go away, but she knew that increasing the contact between them would only agitate Ivy.

"No," Rachel whispered, her voice wavering slightly as she spoke. "I'm sorry," she breathed out, blinking rapidly for a few seconds before squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears that she could feel welling in her eyes from falling.

Rachel didn't know whether it was her words, the tremble in her voice, the sudden smell of salt in the air as her eyes became increasingly wet, or the combination of all three, but after she spoke, Ivy turned her head to face her and for the first time all day, Rachel got a good look at the living-vampires exquisite face.

Ivy's pupils were dilated, but there was plenty of brown around them as they widened as she peered up at Rachel. Ivy's lips parted, but no sound came out, and then, as suddenly as Ivy had looked at her, the living-vampire's eyes moved away from her again and focused on some other part of the room. Ivy's facial muscles then twitched and relaxed, and her gaze became unreadable.

"I understand," Ivy said through lips that barely moved.

Rachel's brows creased as she gazed at Ivy, confused by her lover's behavior. She was apologizing, she was trying to make things better, but Ivy was shutting down.

"I didn't realize how difficult it would be," Rachel said softly, tentatively, thinking that maybe Ivy needed an actual explanation instead of simply, 'I'm sorry'.

The truth was that if she had really thought about it, she probably would have realized that practicing would only have made things worse. Over the past few weeks, their scents had mingled more than ever before. Ivy's bedroom had been the one place the living-vampire had been able to escape Rachel's lingering scent before, but now Rachel was everywhere it there as well. Her smell was on Ivy's sheets, her pillows, against the back of the door, in her bathtub, Rachel scent even lingered in her closet and on her clothes from that one time they had accidentally stumbled into it before Ivy had just picked her up and carried her to the bed, not to mention the fact that she was routinely touching Ivy which naturally transferred more of her scent into the fabrics than it had before.

The first time David had come over after they'd become lovers, he'd taken one step into the church before rearing back, blinking and then smiling broadly as he offered his congratulations.

The fact that Ivy had even warned her that she might have had to leave should have been a sign to Rachel that it wouldn't be that easy as well, but she had wanted it to be that easy so very much. She would have wondered why Ivy didn't try to convince her more that first night, or why she didn't bring up how difficult it was getting for her, but Rachel knew why she didn't.

Ivy wasn't a woman to admit defeat, but more than that, despite all of the terrible things that Ivy had seen, and the terrible things that had been done to her, she was an optimist.

Ivy believed in the healing power of love, it was why she had given her wish to Mia. Ivy believed that Rachel could change the world, because when Rachel managed to save her soul – and she would, god help anyone who got in her way – it would change things for vampires everywhere, not just the one in her arms. Ivy believed that she could rewire her very DNA in order to become the person she wanted to be. Ivy believed in many seemingly impossible things, and Rachel loved that about her. If Ivy hadn't believed in her so much, she wouldn't have been sitting there in the living-vampires lap. In fact, she probably wouldn't even have been alive. And so, it didn't surprise Rachel that Ivy believed that she could will her hunger away, just because she had asked her to.

What did surprise and shame Rachel, was that she had made the same mistake that she had made in Mackinaw. She had made the same mistake she had sworn she would never make again. She had asked Ivy to control her instincts, to control and restrain her feelings. She had tried to make Ivy contain a fundamental part of herself again, and it wasn't working just like it hadn't worked then.

"I should have realized," Rachel continued, carefully reaching out for Ivy, needing to touch her. "I shouldn't have …" Rachel sighed, trailing off as she mentally kicked herself for rushing into things as usual.

She shouldn't have pushed Ivy that first night. She should have let her go so that they could've both calmed down, and then have talked about things rationally. But with Ivy that close to her, all she had wanted to do was get her closer. It had felt so urgent at the time, and she had been afraid that if they had parted then that somehow she would get scared again or Ivy would realize that Rachel was more trouble than she was worth, and so Rachel had pushed any concerns down and taken action.

"I'm so sorry," Rachel said again, as her slim fingers traced Ivy's clenched jaw lightly.

Ivy's face remained blank, and though Rachel was trying to turn her head so that they could see each other, Ivy resolutely kept her head turned from her.

"It's not your fault," Ivy said tersely a few moments later. And then her hands were on Rachel's hips, and Ivy picked Rachel up, stood, and then placed the witch back down on the couch.

Rachel blinked, surprised by the action, but gazed up at Ivy with curiosity instead of concern. Ivy had handled her like that before, and it usually led to Ivy then stripping and then pouncing on her, so Rachel watched the living-vampire with anticipation.

"Ivy!" Rachel called out a few seconds later.

Ivy hadn't started stripping. She had turned her back on Rachel and started moving towards the door of the living room with vampire quickness. Rachel had spoken as soon as she registered the movement, but by the time Ivy's name was out of her lips the other woman was halfway through the door.

"Ivy!" she called again when the vampire didn't stop.

Rachel blinked, a stab of worry pulsing through her when Ivy continued out the door. Ivy always stopped. She might not have always stayed in the church when things got tense between them in the past, but she always stopped and at least talked before fleeing.

"Dammit!" Rachel exclaimed, feeling her anxiety climb. Not only had Ivy not stopped, but her eyes had been brown when she'd left. Rachel had been looking right into them a few seconds before Ivy had taken off, which meant that it wasn't her instincts that had sent her running. Rachel hadn't triggered anything, and having her instincts triggered was the only reason Ivy had ever run from her.

Rachel jumped up and immediately turned and headed out of the living room as well. She didn't know what was going on in Ivy's head, but she was certain that whatever it was wasn't good. She didn't care if she had to fight Ivy tooth and nail, she didn't care if she had to physically jump on her back and try to wrestle her to the ground, she didn't care what she had to do, but they _were _going to talk.

Rachel headed straight towards the hallway where their bedrooms lay. She hadn't heard the church door open or close, so she figured that Ivy must have stalked off to her room.

When Rachel reached the door of Ivy's bedroom it was open, so she started to walk inside. However, she stopped abruptly when she saw what Ivy was doing. Rachel was still for a moment as a wave of panic and fear momentarily overwhelmed her, and then waves of anger started to combat the fear and overrode it.

Rachel stalked towards Ivy and immediately started yanking the clothes Ivy had been shoving into a large overnight bag out of her hands and tossing them onto the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rachel demanded, throwing another item of Ivy's clothing onto the floor.

Ivy stared at the rumpled top lying in a heap at her feet, and took a calming breath before she looked up and over at Rachel.

"I need to think," the living-vampire replied in a carefully modulated tone as she tried to pack another shirt only to have it ripped out of her hand as well.

"Think?" Rachel asked incredulously. Think about what? What did thinking have to do with anything, and why was Ivy packing to do it?

"Yes, think," Ivy replied, a bit of an edge coming into her voice. "Some of us like to do that every now and then."

Rachel froze, Ivy's words hitting her across the face like a hand.

"I said I was sorry," Rachel breathed out blinking, trying to fight back the tears that were suddenly welling in her eyes. "I made a mistake," the redhead continued, watching as Ivy's body tensed and her hands gripped the edges of her bag. "I can't change the past. But I'm trying to make things better."

Ivy remained silent as she hunched over her overnight bag. Her head was tipped down, and her now shoulder length raven hair was curtaining the side of her face, obscuring her features from Rachel. Her back moved up and down slowly as she breathed in and out, and then Ivy straightened up and started to pack again.

"Jesus Christ, Ivy. You know I'm an idiot," Rachel said, desperation starting to creep in again. "Stop, please," she continued, yanking clothes out of Ivy's hands again. "I'm sorry. Don't … don't do this," she said hitting Ivy's bag and knocking it over it in an attempt to get her to stop packing. "Stay," she continued pressing closer to her lover. "We'll make up," she said softly, before hesitantly placing a kiss on Ivy's cheek.

"Make up?" Ivy questioned, the complete and utter bewilderment in her tone making Rachel pull back from her suggestive nuzzling to look at her lover. "But I thought …" Ivy paused. She was blinking rapidly and her nostrils were flared slightly, scenting. "You smelled guilty," Ivy breathed out, her eyebrows creasing as she breathed in again. "You smelled ashamed."

"Ivy," Rachel said softly, reaching out for the living-vampire, reasonably certain that Ivy wouldn't try to pull away from her. "Thought what?" she asked gently, stroking Ivy's arms softly. "I … I don't understand what's happening here."

"You're not breaking up with me?" Ivy asked, sounding so young and vulnerable at that moment that those tears that had been welling in Rachel's eyes almost fell.

"Breaking up with …" Rachel started incredulously. "No. God no! Why? Of course not. Jesus, Ivy," Rachel said whacking the living-vampire on the arm. "I want you to bite me, not leave. That's why I said I'm sorry. This is just Mackinaw all over again. I shouldn't have asked you not to bite me, or at the very least I should have waited to … you know," Rachel said, waving between them, "until I was more comfortable with the idea of being bitten."

"That was the mistake you made?" Ivy asked.

"Yes," Rachel said looking over at Ivy, her eyes widening a second later when she realized what Ivy had been thinking. "You thought I meant being with you. You thought I was regretting it."

Ivy looked away from Rachel, but nodded her head to acknowledge that Rachel was right. "I had to leave you." The words were nothing but a pained whisper as Ivy stared at the back wall of her room. She'd thought that Rachel was getting fed up with her, and she couldn't blame her witchy lover for it. It was no prize having a lover that couldn't make love to you. "I left you," Ivy continued, her voice barely audible. "Why would you want to be with someone who can't even …?"

Ivy's eyes squeezed shut and she angled her head even farther away from Rachel's, shame and self-loathing blanketing her.

"Ivy," Rachel breathed out, her eyes blinking wetly as she quickly crossed the distance between them and took Ivy's hands in her own. "I love you," Rachel told her, "I loved you before we ever made love, and I'd still love you if we could never touch again," she continued, lifting her hand to Ivy's face, stroking her cheek gently. "You could have to stop a thousand times, and it would never make me break up with you. But," she added, smiling a little self-consciously at Ivy before continuing, "I don't think it'll have to come to that."

"Rachel," Ivy said, shaking her head minutely from side to side as her eyes closed again. "I can't promise anymore. I can't … I can't," she continued trailing off as a thin trail of moisture worked its way down her cheek.

"I know," Rachel admitted, stroking her thumb across Ivy's cheek in an attempt to wash away her tear. "I don't want you to," she continued, pressing up on her toes slightly so that she could dust her lips across Ivy's in an attempt to sooth her lover's distress. "That's what I was trying to say earlier. It was never that I didn't want you to bite me. I did. You know I did," Rachel breathed out softly, the familiar excitement that she always felt when she thought about Ivy's fangs slipping inside of her coursing through her. Ivy's eyelashes fluttered in response, and Rachel could see the living-vampires pupils begin to expand. "I was just scared," Rachel continued, trying to get back on track. She needed to get this out before they allowed themselves to get distracted 'making up'. "I let that fear rule me, and I made things so difficult for us both." Rachel closed her eyes, in shame, her deep regret written all over her face and in the soft exhalation of air she released. Opening her eyes again, the witch reached out for Ivy and took the living-vampires hand in her own, stroking Ivy's skin to acknowledge that she knew she had made things much more difficult for Ivy than it had been for herself. "I won't lie. I'm still scared of losing myself in you."

"I would never do anything you didn't wa…" Ivy cut it, her voice cracking as she squeezed Rachel's hand in her own, holding it firmly.

"I know," Rachel whispered, blinking back tears as she squeezed Ivy's hand as well. "I know that," she repeated tilting her head up to kiss Ivy softly again. "I trust you more than anyone in the world," Rachel murmured against Ivy's lips, still kissing her as she spoke. "I'm sorry." Rachel's arms sneaked around Ivy's waist, and she dropped her head onto her lover's shoulder, burying her face in her neck as her arms tightened around Ivy's waist. "I know it's unfounded. I've always known that. I just couldn't stop _feeling_ it."

"I understand," Ivy said softly, moving her hand up and down Rachel's back soothingly as she spoke. "It's okay," she continued, dropping her head down so that she could press a kiss to the top of Rachel's head.

Rachel wanted to say more, but she held herself back for a moment and concentrated on Ivy's scent all around her, and the gentle rise and fall of the living-vampire's heartbeat. She focused on the warmth of Ivy's body and the comforting and familiar feel of her arms around her.

Rachel closed her eyes and thought only of Ivy, and her heartbeat began to slow, and the tears that had been welling in her eyes stopped gathering. A wash of white warmth was slowly wrapping around her, and she knew that her aura was merging with Ivy's.

The faint shaking in Rachel's body stopped, and when she lifted her head from Ivy's shoulder so that she could see the living-vampire's cinnamon brown eyes, she felt calm for the first time all day.

"I don't want to hurt you anymore," Rachel exhaled, her right index finger quickly lifting to cover Ivy's lips when the raven-haired beauty began to speak. "I'm tired of fighting myself too," Rachel added, knowing that Ivy was going to protest letting her bite her because Rachel thought she needed it. Ivy was at the end of her rope and they both knew it, but she would do anything to avoid pressuring Rachel into something. "I want this, Ivy." Rachel made very certain that she was looking directly into Ivy's eyes as she said this. She wanted the lithe beauty to see the truth of her words. "I want us to have this."

Ivy's eyes snapped shut the moment Rachel stopped speaking, and her chest began to rise and fall rapidly as her pulse increased. Her hands trembled faintly where they rested against Rachel's hips, and the redhead's scar began to tingle as Ivy unconsciously began to fill the air around them pheromones.

"Are you sure?" Ivy asked.

Her eyes were still closed and her voice was low and scratchy to a degree that Rachel had never heard before.

"Yes," Rachel replied, "completely," she breathed out.

She then paused for a second. She knew what she was going to say next, and she knew exactly what kind of reaction it would inspire in Ivy, and she wanted to enjoy the anticipation for a moment.

"Claim me."

Ivy breathed in sharply, and her eyes flew open. Immediately midnight black eyes locked on Rachel's own, and the mixture of love, devotion, desperation and hunger in them almost made Rachel swoon.

"Please," the witch breathed out.

Ivy's lips parted and Rachel's heart spasmed wantonly in her chest.

And then Ivy's arms were wrapping around her, and Ivy's lips were against hers, kissing her desperately as Ivy moved them towards the bed.

---

Rachel tangled her fingers in Ivy's hair as the living-vampire's nude thigh moved against her own. Ivy was laying half on top of her and half beside her, and as they kissed Ivy's hand ran up and down Rachel's side. Every so often, Ivy's hand would sneak higher and cup Rachel's breast, massaging it gently and brushing her thumb over her nipple, playing with the hard nub for a few moments before she went back to caressing her side.

Rachel enjoyed it when they took things slowly like this. She found it incredibly arousing how much Ivy enjoyed kissing her, and touching her. The joy and pleasure that her lover took from simply being pressed against her aroused her to the point that when Ivy's hands finally began to wander south, Rachel was usually trembling and breathless with desire.

She recognized Ivy's hesitance for what it was, however. Ivy was tense, where her body was usually loose and relaxed, and her thighs were shifting more anxiously than they usually did. Her fingers had started to trail north from Rachel's breast towards her neck before she lowered them to her side again, and Rachel's scar was throbbing with desire from the pheromones that Ivy was pumping out. In the past Ivy had always been very careful not to play on her scar, and stir up responses in Rachel that the witch wouldn't let either of them indulge. But this time she knew she could bite. This time she wanted to arouse Rachel's desire for her fangs. Ivy wanted to sink her teeth into Rachel's tender, pale flesh and pull.

This hesitance that Rachel was feeling wasn't Ivy teasing. The living vampire didn't want to play. She wanted Rachel desperately, but was still holding herself back. She was still afraid that she shouldn't bite Rachel, despite the redhead giving her permission.

"Ivy," Rachel sighed against her lover's lips. "It's okay," the witch breathed out, reaching up to cup Ivy's face in her hand, stopping the living-vampire from leaning forward and distracting her with kisses again. "Relax. Let go."

Ivy stared down at her with wide, coal black eyes.

"It's okay?" Ivy asked breathily, her eyelashes fluttering rapidly, as her chest rose and fell quickly with her breaths.

"It's okay," Rachel confirmed, and immediately she felt Ivy's body shudder against her.

Ivy let out a relieved breath and then shifted against the redhead head. She had been so afraid that Rachel was going to change her mind. She had been terrified that Rachel had only been telling her what she needed to hear before, that the witch had just been desperate to keep her from leaving.

Ivy moved down Rachel's body slightly, shimmying until Rachel could feel the raven-haired beauties warm, wet breath against her neck.

Rachel moaned helplessly and shifted on the mattress. It felt so good, and it had been so long since she had felt this particular sensation.

A warm wash of breath hit the sensitive flesh of Rachel's neck again, and she bucked up into Ivy, as trails of pleasure burned their way through her body.

Rachel's lips lifted against, and her breath began to come out in short, harsh puffs. She lifted her hand and grasped the back of Ivy's neck, her fingers playing in Ivy's dark hair as she tried to push the living-vampires mouth to her skin.

Ivy wanted to tease Rachel a little, she wanted to breathe on her neck for a while, she wanted to blow on the wet skin until Rachel was constantly writhing beneath her, nearly insane with desire. But she had been waiting too long for this and she had next to no self-discipline left. She needed Rachel. There would be plenty of opportunities to play and tease and take their time later. This time however, she didn't have the patience for biting foreplay.

Ivy allowed Rachel to lead to head down, until her lips softly brushed against the soft flesh of Rachel's throat.

Rachel gasped and her hands clawed at Ivy's back as she felt the Ivy's tongue brush against the scar her lover had given her so long ago.

Ivy's tongue played against the scar she had left on Rachel's skin again, and Rachel's hips shifted on the bed and her hands began to push at Ivy, trying to adjust their position. Ivy licked Rachel's scar again, and allowed her body to sway the way Rachel wanted so that she settled in between the redhead's parted thighs.

Ivy's eyes fluttered closed as she felt the hot, damp press of Rachel's center against her stomach.

Rachel wasn't dripping, she had sprung a leak.

Ivy brushed her fangs across the raised flesh of Rachel's scar and shifted her position until her center was pressed against Rachel's and then she bucked against her.

Rachel's hand moved to the back of Ivy's head again and pushed, pressing Ivy's face against her neck.

She needed it. She needed to be bitten now.

"Ivy," she gasped, her hips circling, grinding around her lover. "Please," Rachel choked out pleadingly, as a few warm frustrated tears escaped from behind her eyes.

The desperation, the need in Rachel's voice tore through Ivy, leaving a hot trail of arousal in its wake. Ivy bucked against Rachel again, and again, and the opened her mouth.

Rachel's fingers scratched at the raven-haired beauties scalp anxiously, and her hips pumped, moving rhythmically into Ivy's.

Ivy's icy fangs slid into Rachel and they both groaned in ecstasy.

Rachel's legs wrapped around Ivy's waist and she drove her hips up, thrusting against Ivy powerfully. She pressed her head back into the pillow underneath it and arched, her hands falling from Ivy's body to claw at the mattress for support as her hips continued to buck.

Ivy groaned and allowed her eyes to flutter shut as she finally began to pull on Rachel. Warm, thick blood began to flow into her mouth and Ivy mewled softly, tears escaping from her eyes as she basked in the beauty of moment and their connection to each other.

Rachel whispered Ivy's name, and Ivy pulled again, both of them sighing with pleasure as Rachel hot, crimson blood flowed into Ivy as the warm golden light of Ivy's aura flowed out of her into Rachel.

To be continued …


	5. Chapter 5

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**PART FIVE**

FOUR MONTHS LATER

Rachel tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder to free up her hands, and reached for the top drawer closest to the sink and pulled it open. She lifted her shoulder, pressing the phone more tightly against her ear and then began rooting through the drawer for a long plastic spoon.

"It's the perfect temperature now," Rachel said absently into the receiver as she triumphantly pulled out a long white plastic spoon. "In a couple of weeks it's going to be a sauna," she continued, shifting the spoon into one hand, while she reached up to hold the phone with her other one. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in," she griped into the receiver as she plunged the spoon into a tall glass jar of lemonade and began to stir. "We're just doing our part for the environment."

Alice laughed at that, and Rachel smiled, happy and a little sad at the same time. Maybe it would make her sound like a baby, but she didn't care. She missed her mom. When Alice was still in Cincy, they didn't exactly see each other all the time, but they _could_ see each other whenever they wanted, and that was nice. It had been comforting to know that no matter what happened she could be in her old house, in her old kitchen, being hugged in her mother's arms, while hot chocolate cooled in her favorite childhood mug in a matter of minutes. That house and her mother had been the only consistent thing in her life, and she missed the security of it. Her life was full of enough chaos and change, that it had comforted her to think that the house and her mother would always be there, that _that_ would always stay the same.

She missed having Alice a fifteen minute car ride away, but her mother had been doing much better since moving. She was more lucid, it was easier for her to focus. She was working again, selling spells and charms and making a good living at it away from Cincy where people had stopped buying from her because of Rachel's reputation. There was a peace in her voice, a confidence and surety that Rachel hadn't heard in a very long time, and she knew that her mother was happy. She missed Alice, but she was glad that she moved. Alice couldn't have moved on surrounded by the ghosts of her past, and she deserved a chance to move on and to live again. She still had a lot of life to live, and Rachel wanted that time to be happy for her mother.

"Okay, now you're just showing off," Rachel muttered as she pulled the spoon out of the container of lemonade and dropped it into the sink. "I …"

Rachel's voice trailed off as the back doors opened, and Ivy sauntered into the kitchen, a dark, romantic figure backlit by the blazing afternoon sun. Ivy had been working outside since the early afternoon, and Rachel knew that she had come in search of the lemonade Alice's call had stopped Rachel from bringing outside to her.

Ivy had completed the small garden project she had first told Rachel about the day they had gotten together weeks ago. But, to Ivy's surprise and delight, she had found that she actually enjoyed gardening and the living-vampire had set her mind to renovating the whole backyard.

The garden had already been there when they moved in, and it had been planted by the previous owner rather haphazardly. There was no real organization or discernable pattern to where things had been planted and on more than a few occasions, Rachel had come into the church muttering about how she couldn't find this or that plant out there, and how annoying the chaos of it was.

Ivy had decided to put an end to that – even though Rachel told her that she didn't have to – and had been outside for the majority of the past two days working on the garden.

Over the past two days, Ivy had cataloged the plants to see what was out there; she had categorized them into types based on the kinds of spells they were used for; and she was currently in the process of transplanting some plants from one section of the garden to another with the pixies help. When that was over, Rachel knew that the plan was then to place sectional dividers up and then finally, to put up posts with labels so that Rachel could find what she was looking for at a glance.

It was one of the sweetest things that Rachel had ever had done for her, and the redhead had rewarded Ivy the previous night with a bubble-bath, followed by a massage, followed by Rachel's mouth running over Ivy's naked body until both of them were sweaty, aching and completely spent.

Rachel licked her lips, but forced her mind back to the present. Before Alice had called she had been contemplating how to reward Ivy for her hard work that night. But, those were thoughts she didn't want to have while on the phone with her mother, so she simply turned her eyes to Ivy to watch her lovers approach.

Ivy's long, tapered fingers – which had been pale days before but were now darkening attractively from time spent in the sun – ran through the living-vampires onyx hair as the back door closed behind her. Rachel watched her, and as she did the witch could practically feel the silky strands of Ivy's hair brushing warmly through her fingers.

Ivy was wearing a pair of very short jeans shorts, and a thin white tank top that was now clinging fiercely to her sun damp skin, the black bra Ivy wore under it completely visible now. Smudges of dirt dotted Ivy everywhere. She had streaks of earth running over her thighs, there were dark patches on her shorts and tank top, and slashes of dirt running along her arms. There was even one particularly fetching smudge on her right cheek.

Ivy was, in short, a dirty, sweaty mess at the moment, but she was a dirty, sweaty mess Rachel found incredibly sexy and she wanted nothing more than to stalk over to Ivy and put her hands on her, and then her lips on her, and then she wanted to do things to Ivy with her hands and her lips at the same time.

"Rachel?"

Rachel blinked, her mothers voice on the other end of the phone snapping her out of her thoughts about Ivy.

"What?" Rachel said a little dazed as she watched Ivy move towards her. "Sorry," she said, smiling softly as Ivy came within arms reach of her and smiled at her. "Ivy just came in," Rachel continued, her voice softening unconsciously as she said Ivy's name.

Ivy placed a gentle hand on Rachel's hip and leaned down to kiss her cheek tenderly, then she pulled back and angled her head at the jug of lemonade, silently asking if it was ready to be consumed. Rachel nodded her head, and as Ivy reached for a glass, Alice laughed softly on the other end of the phone.

"Oh," Alice drawled as Ivy began to pour, and Rachel blushed and dropped her eyes to the floor. Her mother's 'Oh' had been more than a little suggestive, and Rachel realized that her mother knew that her mind had drifted into her happy Ivy Place.

When Rachel lifted her head again, she saw that Ivy's eyes were on her. Her gaze was curious and her posture was relaxed, but in the bright afternoon light illuminating the kitchen, Rachel could see that the charming cinnamon of Ivy's eyes had begun to darken. Ivy always knew when she was blushing, even when she couldn't see her directly because the scent of her blood became stronger when it rushed to the surface of her skin. Because of this, blushing had always made her awkward around Ivy in the past since she didn't want to trigger her instincts, but now it was a rather effective method of foreplay. Blushing had actually started to affect her libido, because her brain was starting to associate it with Ivy jumping her, which was always followed by incredible waves of pleasure.

However, she was on the phone with her mother at the moment, which meant she was in no position to satisfy any desire her blush created in either of them, and she shook her head at Ivy, silently informing her not to try to start anything. If she suddenly told Alice she had to go, Alice would know exactly why, and Rachel couldn't face the idea of Alice being aware she was having sex while she was having sex.

"Huh?" Rachel asked dumbly, realizing she had missed the majority of what her mother was saying again. "Okay," she continued a moment later, her brows scrunching together before she looked over at Ivy and held out the phone. "It's Alice. She wants to talk to you."

Ivy nodded and reached for the phone, warmly saying, "Alice, hello" as Rachel moved to the side to lean against the center island. As Rachel settled in spot, Ivy smiled brightly, and then a few seconds later she started to laugh. Rachel was caught between the impulse to frown and the impulse to smile. She loved the sound of Ivy's laughter. It was something she hadn't heard often in the past, but had heard quite a bit in the last few months, and she wanted to hear that sound daily for the rest of her life. But, she suspected that whatever her mother was saying to make Ivy laugh was about her, and that made her want to frown. They always ganged up on her nowadays.

"Okay," Ivy said, still chuckling softly as she spoke. "I won't," she promised laughing again. "Goodbye Alice," she finished with a smile and then she turned to face Rachel, and held the phone out to her.

Rachel took the phone and clamped her hand over the mouthpiece.

"What was that about?" Rachel whispered.

"Nothing," Ivy said, a sly smile spreading across her lips as Rachel glared at her.

"She said something about me, didn't she? What'd she say? It's not true," Rachel said. Her head was spinning a little by the time she finished speaking, and she had to blink a few times to try and clear her head.

She had moved closer to Ivy as she spoke, and the air around her was swimming with happy vampire pheromones. Ivy put them out almost constantly while they were around each other these days, but usually it started out as a slow stream that built up at a rate that allowed Rachel to adjust to them. This time Ivy had unconsciously released a heavy burst in her happiness and amusement and it rocked Rachel for a second.

"Nothing," Ivy repeated, smiling again. Then she leaned forward and kissed Rachel's forehead before she picked up her glass and headed for the back door again.

Rachel watched silently as Ivy moved towards the back door and then slipped out again. "It's not fair that you two pick on me," Rachel groused the moment she was sure Ivy was out of the range where she could pick up what was being said without trying to.

"Not fair?" Alice questioned laughing. "Rachel, you sound like a six year old."

Rachel slumped against the counter morosely and glared at the microwave.

"No I don't," she pouted. "_You_ sound like a six year old," she continued, biting down on her lip before she could utter the 'so there' that was on the tip of her tongue.

Alice made a sound on the other end of the phone, but otherwise ignored her daughter's response.

"She's a good egg. You should hold onto that one," Alice said a few seconds later, her words catching Rachel by surprise, as they often did.

"I will," Rachel said, her voice cracking a little bit as her eyes tracked to the back door. She could see Ivy's sleek form moving around, and suddenly wished that she was outside too. Her mother's words had called up some wordless emotion in her, and she wanted Ivy's hand in hers, or her arms around Ivy's waist.

"So, when are you coming out to see me?" Alice asked, apparently pleased with the seriousness of Rachel's answer. "The place is all fixed up now, and I want to show it off."

Rachel smiled, glad to have the conversation move towards lighter areas. "Soon," she said, leaning back against the counter. "When Ivy's finished playing in the dirt we're going to book the tickets." And then after that it was straight to the bank, but Rachel kept that part to herself, since she was sure Alice wouldn't find it as amusing as she did. It was a 'you had to be there' kind of thing.

"Wonderful," Alice exclaimed happily. "Robbie is dying to meet her."

Rachel sighed piteously and gave up on the idea of a relaxing vacation, resigning herself to the fact that it would be more 'interesting' than anything else.

---

Rachel had just finished hanging up the phone when Ivy walked back into the church, surrounded by numerous zooming pixy children and Jenks, who was trying to corral them all. Ivy had a vaguely exasperated look on her face, and Rachel smiled and made her way over to her, immediately lifting up onto her tip toes to place a kiss on Ivy's lips.

"I'm dirty," Ivy protested when Rachel then proceeded to wrap her arms around Ivy's waist.

"I know," Rachel murmured, completely unconcerned. "I like it when you're dirty," she continued, smiling slyly before she pressed her lips to Ivy's neck, knowing that it would get the living-vampires pulse racing.

Ivy purred softly, and Rachel rested her head against her lovers shoulder as Jenks and a dozen of his kids flew towards them again. It seemed that he'd finally managed to get them under control and was ready to herd them back outside.

"Mom says hi," Rachel told him as he flew past them, his hands on his hips in his most intimidating Peter Pan pose as he eyed his children closely.

Jenks paused as the last of his kids flew out and turned around to face Rachel, a large smile on his face as he did.

"I know. I like it when she says hi," he responded in his best 'sexy girl voice'.

Rachel blushed deeply. She had been speaking softly when she was teasing Ivy a minute ago, but she had forgotten that pixy hearing was good enough to pick up even whispers if they were in the same room as someone. Jenks probably heard a lot that Rachel would rather he not, but since they were in the same room this time he had apparently decided this was fair game for teasing.

"Shut up," Rachel muttered, the complete lack of wit in her reply making both Jenks and Ivy laugh.

"What in Tink's drawer of inappropriately used kitchen utensils are you two getting up to at night?" Jenks asked flying over to Ivy and settling down on the shoulder that wasn't being occupied by Rachel already.

Ivy murmured something in response that Rachel couldn't quite make out, though she was sure that the words "Strapping Young Vampiress" were in there somewhere, and consequently she smacked Ivy lightly in the stomach.

She hated it when they used low speaking voices they knew her witchy ears couldn't pick up.

"I think it's time for more lemonade," Ivy declared, pulling away from Rachel and moving over to the counter. Teasing Rachel was one thing, but she didn't want to upset her enough that they wouldn't actually get to play dirty with each other after the sun went down.

Rachel _harrumphed_, but watched as Ivy sashayed away from her. She wasn't mad enough that she would pass up that view.

Jenks followed Ivy over to the counter, showering her with golden dust as he hovered near her. Rachel stayed where she was for a few seconds, watching as Ivy refilled her glass while Jenks talked to her rapidly about the progress they were making outside. Rachel was actually interested in how things were going out there, but she couldn't concentrate on what Jenks and Ivy were saying to each other. Instead she just focused on the blissful domesticity of the moment. She was overwhelmed by how wonderful it was to be in her own fabulously large kitchen, on a sunny afternoon with her two best friends, one of whom she also happened to be madly in love with.

As Jenks continued to talk, Ivy's head swiveled around to look at Rachel, and the redhead realized that her lover must have felt her eyes on her. Ivy looked at her questioningly, and then lifted her arm and held it out, beckoning Rachel over.

Rachel smiled and heeded Ivy's call, sighing contently a moment later as Ivy's arm fell around her shoulders, tucking her securely against the living-vampires side.

Rachel smiled as Jenks excitedly kept talking to Ivy. Demon scars, shunning and Al, be damned. She was a lucky witch.

The End


End file.
